The Naked Truth
by WriterGirl1803
Summary: A "Reading The Book" fic with a twist The greasers are sitting around talking and the conversation turns to Johnny. Everyone talks about how they wish they could figure out what happened that week. All of the sudden, a stack of papers appear with a strange note with some strange instructions. Can the greasers change the past?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders or the characters. I'm not making any profit with this, everything belongs to S.E Hinton. If you recognize something, it probably isn't mine.**

 **The text in bold is direct lines from the book, and all belong to S.E Hinton.**

 **Author's Note: Sorry for the whole mix-up between accounts, but now I'll finally be able to update. So it has been a while since I have worked on this fic, so bear with me. I should be able to update about every week, but that is a very flexible number for me: it could be a little bit longer, or it could be a little bit sooner.**

 **(Ponyboy POV)**

I sit on the floor in front of the couch with my head leaning against Darry's legs behind me. The whole crew is crowded around the TV watching an episode of Mickey Mouse. Two-Bit is avidly watching while drinking his beer, but everyone else is kinda bored. We would all be outside playing football, but it's storming.

Another flash of lightning shoots across the sky and suddenly the lights and TV flicker, then shut off.

There's a distraught cry of "MICKEY!" and I don't even have to look to know that it's Two-Bit.

It's still kinda bright outside, so at least we can still see each other. Losing the TV helps my boredness level go from kinda bored to extremely bored.

Steve seems to agree because he groans, "I'm bored!" after about 3 seconds after the TV going out.

There are various grunts of agreement, but then Two-Bit says "I can't help but think that if Dally were here, he'd be cracking jokes and passing time."

I can't help but smile when I remember all the ways that Dally used to be able to find to pass the time. But thinking of Dally suddenly has me thinking of Johnny. I miss em' both, more than I ever thought possible. Before the fire, if you had asked me if I would miss Dallas Winston so much that it hurts just to think about him, I would've said no. But it turns out that he and Johnny were a lot bigger part in my life than I had ever suspected.

As if reading my mind, Soda speaks up "Golly, I miss him and Johnny so much."

There are various sounds of agreement from all around the room and then Darry says "I really wish there was a way for us to find out what happened that night and in the week that followed."

I feel myself tense up, it's still hard for me to talk about anything that happened that week.

Darry notices and hurriedly continues "Not you Ponyboy! I know that it's still hard for you to think about that week, let alone tell us all about it. I was just saying that I wish there was some other way to find out about it. Without having to hurt you, you dig?"

I'm just about to nod when suddenly there is a gust of wind that tears through the house. We all jump up to find the source of it, but it's gone just a quick as it appeared. We all look up at each other in varying degrees of shock and confusion.

Steve is the one to break the silence by yelling "What the hell was that? Did we leave a window open or somethin'?

Darry says "Hold on, I'll go look." and then he's gone.

Not even a minute later he walks out of the kitchen and says "They're all closed. I don't know wha-" He freezes mid-step and mid-sentence when he spots something on the kitchen counter.

"What's that?" he mumbles and then goes to investigate.

The rest of us look at each other, throw a few shrugs, and then simultaneously walk over to Darry. He has a stack of paper in his hands and when I see the title I gasp.

"The Outsiders? Pony do you know what this is?" Darry asks me.

"Yeah, " I said in a shaky voice. "That's the composition that I wrote for Mr. Syme. You know when he raised my grade?"

"Oh yeah, I remember that!" Soda said. "But what's it doing here, I could have sworn that it wasn't there a few minutes ago."

"That's the thing, I turned it into Mr. Syme and I haven't gotten it back yet. It shouldn't be here." I reply in a slightly scared voice.

"Wait a minute!" Two-Bit said, "Do you think this was what that wind thing was about?"

We all looked at him like he had drunk one too many beers, which he probably had.

"Now wait a minute, don't look at me like that, just think about it." he insisted. "The composition wasn't on the counter before the wind, Darry was wishin' about how he could find out what happened that week, the wind happened, and the essay appeared. It makes sense to think that the wind somehow caused it to be here."

"Hey guys wait, there's a note on the first page. It says, "This is an essay written by Ponyboy Curtis, that explains the events of the night that Johnny Cade killed Bob Sheldon. It also explains the events of the week that followed, including the fire that took Johnny's life. Please don't get stuck on how this essay appeared in your kitchen, you will find out in due time. It is very important that you and the list of people at the end of this note read this essay and take it seriously because you will need the knowledge that this essay gives you in a very short time.

The following people need to be present for the reading of this essay:

\- Ponyboy Curtis

\- Darrel Curtis

\- Sodapop Curtis

\- Two-Bit Matthews

\- Steve Randle

-Tim Shephard

\- Cherry Valance

\- Marcia (I don't know her last name)

\- Randy Adderson

Please get these people into one place and read the essay together, everything else will happen on it's own." Darry reads.

"What's it mean 'everything else will happen on its own'?" I ask

"I don't know, but I kinda want to read it." Darry said.

"Yeah, me too. I can't help but be a little curious." Two-Bit agreed.

"Yeah, but first we should go find the people in the list." Soda said.

"Alright, I'll call them." Darry said.

"Wait, how do know Cherry, Marcia, and Randy's numbers?"

"When Cherry came to tell us that she would testify she gave us the numbers of a some Socs that we could trust, those were a few of them. Never thought I'd need em', but I kept them just in case. Guess it paid off." he replied simply as he dialed the first number.

"Hey is this Cherry Valance? Hey, it's Darry Curtis. I was wondering if there was some way that you could come over to our house today. It's real important. No, not just you, I'm getting ready to call Marcia and Randy over too. I'll explain everything when you get here, ok? As soon as you can. Ok, thanks."

I decide that I don't t want to listen to two more one-sided conversations, so I go to fix the living up so that everyone will have somewhere to sit. I pull our kitchen chairs into the living room and that made room for a few more people to sit, but a few of us would still have to sit on the floor. The storm was letting up outside so I figure they'll be here soon.

As if by magic, there was a knock on the front door. Darry had walked into the room by then, so he just walked over to the door instead of the couch. He opened the door and there stood Cherry, Marcia, and Randy. I was surprised to find all three at the door at the same time, I had expected them to come separately.

Cherry must have seen my surprised look because she looked at me and said, "We all rode together."

Darry opened the door wider and allowed them to come inside. They quickly took their seats, but I remained standing to wait for Tim Shepard. He got there pretty quickly and he and I took our seats on the floor in front of the couch. Darry quickly explained the situation and read them the note, I could tell he was ready to read the essay, so was the rest of the gang.

"Alright, who wants to read first?" he asked after he was done explaining the situation.

"Oh, I do!" Two-Bit said.

The book was quickly passed over to Two-Bit who actually looked excited to read a book. Well, I guess there's a first time for everything.

Two-Bit cleared his throat and said in his best storytelling voice "Chapter 1".

 **Next Chapter: Two-Bit reads the first chapter of The Outsiders. We get to see the Socs new views of the way that Greasers live.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders or the characters. I'm not making any profit with this, everything belongs to S.E Hinton. If you recognize something, it probably isn't mine.**

 **Author's Note: The text in bold is direct lines from the book, and all belong to S.E Hinton.**

 **(Two-Bit POV)**

 **When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.**

"Wait, why Paul Newman?" Tim asked.

"I don't know, let me read and maybe we'll find out." I replied simply.

 **I was wishing I looked like Paul Newman- he looks tough and I don't- but I guess my own looks aren't so bad. I have light-brown, almost-red hair and greenish-gray eyes. I wish they were more gray, because I hate most guys that have green eyes, but I have to be content with what I have. My hair is longer than a lot of boys wear theirs, squared off in back and long at the front and sides, but I am a greaser and most of my neighborhood rarely bothers to get a haircut. Besides, I look better with long hair.**

"You got that right, I swear I didn't think your hair was ever gonna grow back." I laughed along with the other greasers when Steve said this. Ponyboy's hair had just recently gotten back to the way it was before _that_ week.

 **I had a long walk home and no company, but I usually lone it anyway, for no reason except that I like to watch movies undisturbed so I can get into them and live them with the actors.**

"That ain't a good enough reason to walk home on your own Pony. You know what happens when Greasers walk home alone, you know better than to do somethin' like that." Darry lectures Ponyboy, and I can't help but agree with him: every time I'm told a Greaser was jumped, I just see Johnny in my head after he got jumped.

"Darry trust me I know, I ain't doing something like that after what happened last time." Ponyboy assured his oldest brother.

 **When I see a movie with someone it's kind of uncomfortable, like having someone read your book over your shoulder.**

"What is this reading he speaks of?" Steve asks and I just keep right on readin'.

 **I'm different that way. I mean, my second-oldest brother, Soda, who is sixteen-going-on-seventeen, never cracks a book at all,**

"Hey!" is yelled from the couch. I grin and just keep right on readin'

 **and my oldest brother, Darrel, who we call Darry, works too long and hard to be interested in a story or drawing a picture, so I'm not like them.**

"Sorry I'm so busy Ponyboy, I'd take time off if I could." Darry tells him.

"Ah, it's alright I understand Darry." Pony replies.

 **And nobody in our gang digs movies and books the way I do. For a while there, I thought I was the only person in the world that did. So I loned it.**

 **Soda tries to understand, at least, which is more than Darry does. But then, Soda is different from anybody; he understands everything, almost. Like he's never hollering at me all the time the way Darry is, or treating me as if I was six instead of fourteen. I love Soda more than I've ever loved anyone, even Mom and Dad. He's always happy-go-lucky and grinning, while Darry's hard and firm and rarely grins at all. But then, Darry's gone through a lot in his twenty years, grown up too fast. Sodapop'll never grow up at all. I don't know which way's the best. I'll find out one of these days.**

"Dang Soda, the kid worships the ground you walk on!" Tim exclaimed and Soda just grinned.

Said kid blushed and mumbled "Sorry Darry".

Darry just patted his shoulder, I guess in their weird brotherly communication that means it's okay.

 **Anyway, I went on walking home, thinking about the movie, and then suddenly wishing I had some company. Greasers can't walk alone too much or they'll get jumped, or someone will come by and scream "Greaser!" at them, which doesn't make you feel too hot, if you know what I mean. We get jumped by the Socs.**

The Socs that were in the room with us all shifted in their chairs and I jumped a little: I had forgotten they were here, but now that I look at them, they all look sorta ashamed. Randy looked especially sorry. Good, he has a right too. I mighta forgiven him for getting drunk and jumping Johnny and Ponyboy, cause Lord knows I've gotten drunk and done a lot of stupid things myself, but sometimes I can't help but be angry at him.

 **I'm not sure how you spell it, but it's the abbreviation for the Socials, the jet set, the West-side rich kids. It's like the term "greaser," which is used to class all us boys on the East Side.**

 **We're poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we're wilder, too. Not like the Socs, who jump greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks, and get editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace one day and an asset to society the next.**

"Not all Socs are like that Ponyboy." Cherry said.

Ponyboy replied with a simple "I know that now." and I just continued reading.

 **Greasers are almost like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in awhile. I don't mean I do things like that. Darry would kill me if I got into trouble with the police.**

Darry throws in a mumbled "Mhm" and I just pretend I wasn't even interrupted.

 **Since Mom and Dad were killed in an auto wreck, the three of us get to stay together only as long as we behave. So Soda and I stay out of trouble as much as we can, and we're careful not to get caught when we can't. I only mean that most greasers do things like that, just like we wear our hair long and dress in blue jeans and T-shirts, or leave our shirttails out and wear leather jackets and tennis shoes or boots. I'm not saying that either Socs or Greasers are better; that's just the way things are.**

 **I could have waited to go to the movies until Darry or Sodapop got off work.**

"And you should've" Darry said and Soda nodded his head beside of him.

"Darry we've been over this, I know I should've waited for. I'm sorry, can we just leave it at that?" Ponyboy replied in a slightly frustrated voice.

Darry just nodded at me to continue reading, and I did just that.

 **They would have gone with me, or driven me there, or walked along, although Soda just can't sit still long enough to enjoy a movie and they bore Darry to death. Darry thinks his life is enough without inspecting other people's. Or I could have gotten one of the gang to come along, one of the four boys Darry and Soda and I have grown up with and consider family. We're almost as close as brothers; when you grow up in a tight-knit neighborhood like ours you get to know each other real well. If I had thought about it, I could have called Darry and he would have come by on his way home and picked me up, or Two-Bit Mathews- one of our gang- would have come to get me in his car if I had asked him,**

"Yeah anytime you need a ride Pony just call me. It'd be better than you walkin' on your own," I assure him.

Ponyboy smiled and nodded his head in thanks.

 **but sometimes I just don't use my head. It drives my brother Darry nuts when I do stuff like that, 'cause I'm supposed to be smart; I make good grades and have a high IQ and everything, but I don't use my head. Besides, I like walking.**

 **I about decided I didn't like it so much, though, when I spotted that red Corvair trailing me. I was almost two blocks from home then, so I started walking a little faster. I had never been jumped, but I had seen Johnny after four Socs got hold of him, and it wasn't pretty. Johnny was scared of his own shadow after that. Johnny was sixteen then.**

There were various growls heard around the room, and I notice that the Socs look uncomfortable.

 **I knew it wasn't any use though- the fast walking, I mean- even before the Corvair pulled up beside me and five Socs got out. I got pretty scared- I'm kind of small for fourteen even though I have a good build, and those guys were bigger than me. I automatically hitched my thumbs in my jeans and slouched, wondering if I could get away if I made a break for it. I remembered Johnny- his face all cut up and bruised, and I remembered how he had cried when we found him, half-conscious, in the corner lot. Johnny had it awful rough at home- it took a lot to make him cry.**

"What's it mean 'Johnny had it awful rough at home?' What was wrong with his home life?" Randy asked.

I didn't want to have to be the one to tell the kid that the boy he and his friends jumped on more than one occasion was also beat up by his dad at home. Randy seemed like a good enough kid, he just did something stupid when he was drunk, I know he already feels guilty enough about it, but this would make it even worse. I looked around the room and noticed that the other Socs also looked curious, and that the other Greasers were about as eager to tell them as I was.

"Just let Two-Bit read, I'm sure it'll mention it soon." Darry said and I took that as my que.

 **I was sweating something fierce, although I was cold. I could feel my palms getting clammy and the perspiration running down my back. I get like that when I'm real scared. I glanced around for a pop bottle or a stick or something- Steve Randle, Soda's best buddy, had once held off four guys with a busted pop bottle.**

"Wait a minute, kid you actually believed that story?" Steve asked laughing.

What, you mean it wasn't true?" Looked like that was news to Ponyboy.

"Nah, I was just pulling your leg. I didn't think you'd actually buy that story." He said still laughing.

 **but there was nothing. So I stood there like a bump on a log while they surrounded me. I don't use my head. They walked around slowly, silently, smiling.**

 **"Hey, grease," one said in an over-friendly voice. "We're gonna do you a favor, greaser. We're gonna cut all that long greasy hair off."**

 **He had on a madras shirt. I can still see it. Blue madras. One of them laughed, then cussed me out in a low voice. I couldn't think of anything to say. There just isn't a whole lot you can say while waiting to get mugged, so I kept my mouth shut.**

 **"Need a haircut, greaser?" The medium-sized blond pulled a knife out of his back pocket and flipped the blade open.**

 **I finally thought of something to say. "No."**

"No? That's all you could come up with? And here I thought I taught you better than that." Soda said, trying to lighten the tense situation.

It worked, mostly. I could still see Darry had his fists clenched, and the Socs were all looking mighty uncomfortable.

 **I was backing up, away from that knife. Of course I backed right into one of them. They had me down in a second. They had my arms and legs pinned down and one of them was sitting on my chest with his knees on my elbows, and if you don't think that hurts, you're crazy. I could smell English Leather shaving lotion and stale tobacco, and I wondered foolishly if I would suffocate before they did anything. I was scared so bad I was wishing I would.**

All I know is that I wouldn't want to be on Darry's bad side when he was like this. He had moved from his sitting position to pacing the floor behind the couch. His fists were clenching and unclenching, but yet he still nodded at me to continue.

 **I fought to get loose, and almost did for a second; then they tightened up on me and the one on my chest slugged me a couple of times. So I lay still, swearing at them between gasps. A blade was held against my throat.**

 **"How'd you like that haircut to begin just below the chin?"**

 **It occurred to me then that they could kill me. I went wild. I started screaming for Soda, Darry, anyone. Someone put his hand over my mouth, and I bit it as hard as I could, tasting the blood running through my teeth.**

"Good job Pony!" was the cheer that came from Sodapop. There was several shouts of praise from the Greasers, and I noticed that the Socs couldn't help but crack a smile at the relationship we all had with one another.

 **I heard a muttered curse and got slugged again, and they were stuffing a handkerchief in my mouth. One of them kept saying, "Shut him up, for Pete's sake, shut him up!"**

 **Then there were shouts and the pounding of feet, and the Socs jumped up and left me lying there, gasping. I lay there and wondered what in the world was happening- people were jumping over me and running by me and I was too dazed to figure it out. Then someone had me under the armpits and was hauling me to my feet. It was Darry.**

 **"Are you all right, Ponyboy?"**

 **He was shaking me and I wished he'd stop. I was dizzy enough anyway. I could tell it was Darry though- partly because of the voice and partly because Darry's always rough with me without meaning to be.**

That smile quickly turned into a frown. I know already that this is going to be rough for Darry to hear, because he and Pony used to be at each other's throats all the time. It's a lot better now, but it still will probably hurt Darry to hear what Ponyboy used to think about him.

 **"I'm okay. Quit shaking me, Darry, I'm okay."**

 **He stopped instantly. "I'm sorry."**

 **He wasn't really. Darry isn't ever sorry for anything he does. It seems funny to me that he should look just exactly like my father and act exactly the opposite from him. My father was only forty when he died and he looked twenty-five and a lot of people thought Darry and Dad were brothers instead of father and son. But they only looked alike- my father was never rough with anyone without meaning to be.**

Darry really looked up to his father and whenever people tell him that he is just like his father, he sort of swells up with pride. Having his kid brother tell him that he is nothing like him past his looks… ouch. I quickly continue reading, hoping to get past this part as quickly as possible.

 **Darry is six-feet-two, and broad-shouldered and muscular. He has dark-brown hair that kicks out in front and a slight cowlick in the back- just like Dad's- but Darry's eyes are his own. He's got eyes that are like two pieces of pale blue-green ice. They've got a determined set to them, like the rest of him. He looks older than twenty- tough, cool, and smart. He would be real handsome if his eyes weren't so cold. He doesn't understand anything that is not plain hard fact. But he uses his head.**

 **I sat down again, rubbing my cheek where I'd been slugged the most.**

 **Darry jammed his fists in his pockets. "They didn't hurt you too bad, did they?"**

 **They did. I was smarting and aching and my chest was sore and I was so nervous my hands were shaking and I wanted to start bawling, but you just don't say that to Darry.**

 **"I'm okay."**

"Pony, you don't have to lie to me. If you're hurtin' just tell me." Darry said. "You know that right? Right?" he asked desperately.

"Yeah Darry, I know that now. Things were just different back then, I didn't knw what I know now. " Ponyboy assured him.

Sodapop came loping back. By then I had figured that all the noise I had heard was the gang coming to rescue me. He dropped down beside me, examining my head.

"You got cut up a little, huh, Ponyboy?"

I only looked at him blankly. "I did?"

He pulled out a handkerchief, wet the end of it with his tongue, and pressed it gently against the side of my head. "You're bleedin' like a stuck pig."

"I am?"

"Look!" He showed me the handkerchief, reddened as if by magic. "Did they pull a blade on you?

I remembered the voice: "Need a haircut, greaser?" The blade must have slipped while he was trying to shut me up. "Yeah."

Soda is handsomer than anyone else I know. Not like Darry- Soda's movie-star kind of handsome, the kind that people stop on the street to watch go by. He's not as tall as Darry, and he's a little slimmer, but he has a finely drawn, sensitive face that somehow manages to be reckless and thoughtful at the same time. He's got dark-gold hair that he combs back- long and silky and straight- and in the summer the sun bleaches it to a shining wheat gold. His eyes are dark brown- lively, dancing, recklessly laughing eyes that can be gentle and

sympathetic one moment and blazing with anger the next. He has Dad's eyes, but Soda is one of a kind. He can get drunk in a drag race or dancing without ever getting near alcohol. In our neighborhood it's rare to find a kid who doesn't drink once in awhile. But Soda never touches a drop- he doesn't need to. He gets drunk on just plain living. And he understands everybody.

 **I grin when I notice that Sodapop seems to sit up a little straighter and puff out his chest a little more with each and every word.**

 **He looked at me more closely. I looked away hurriedly, because, if you want to know the truth, I was starting to bawl. I knew I was as white as I felt and I was shaking like a leaf.**

 **Soda just put his hand on my shoulder. "Easy, Ponyboy. They ain't gonna hurt you no more."**

 **"I know," I said, but the ground began to blur and I felt hot tears running down my cheeks. I brushed them away impatiently. "I'm just a little spooked, that's all." I drew a quivering breath and quit crying. You just don't cry in front of Darry. Not unless you're hurt like Johnny had been that day we found him in the vacant lot. Compared to Johnny I wasn't hurt at all.**

 **"That doesn't mean you can't cry Ponyboy." Steve said softly.**

 **I was a little shocked. Steve and Ponyboy don't get along that well. I mean they can stand being around each other, but one doesn't usually go around comforting the other. But, this is a good sign, maybe this essay will bring us all a little closer together. A smile pulls across my face at the thought, and I continue reading.**

 **Soda rubbed my hair. "You're an okay kid, Pony."**

 **I had to grin at him- Soda can make you grin no matter what. I guess it's because he's always grinning so much himself. "You're crazy, Soda, out of your mind."**

 **Darry looked as if he'd like to knock our heads together. "You're both nuts."**

 **Soda merely cocked one eyebrow, a trick he'd picked up from Two-Bit.**

"Hey! There's no one who can do the Two-Bit Matthews single eyebrow raise except Two-Bit Matthews!" I yell.

Sodapop merely shrugs one shoulder in response.

 **"It seems to run in this family."**

 **Darry stared at him for a second, then cracked a grin. Sodapop isn't afraid of him like everyone else and enjoys teasing him. I'd just as soon tease a full-grown grizzly; but for some reason, Darry seems to like being teased by Soda.**

 **Our gang had chased the Socs to their car and heaved rocks at them. They came running toward us now- four lean, hard guys. They were all as tough as nails and looked it. l had grown up with them, and they accepted me, even though I was younger, because I was Darry and Soda's kid brother and I kept my mouth shut good.**

"Hey, that's not the only reason we accept you!" I tell him in a sort of frustrated voice.

"No, but that's a good part of the reason." Tim says with a grin, and Sodapop slaps him on the back of the head.

"Hey! I was just kiddin'! He said laughing. That's what I like about Tim, when he's around other people like downtown, he is a tough, scary, dude. But, when it's just him and the gang, he laughs and cuts up with the rest of us.

 **Steve Randle was seventeen, tall and lean, with thick greasy hair he kept combed in complicated swirls. He was tacky,**

"Hey!"

 **smart, and Soda's best buddy since grade school. Steve's specialty was cars. He could lift a hubcap quicker and more quietly than anyone in the neighborhood, but he also knew cars upside-down and backward, and he could drive anything on wheels. He and Soda worked at the same gas station- Steve part time and Soda full time- and their station got more customers than any other in town. Whether that was because Steve was so good with cars or because Soda attracted girls like honey draws flies, I couldn't tell you.**

"I think it's actually an even combination of both." Sodapop says.

"Yeah, me too." Steve agreed.

 **I liked Steve only because he was Soda's best friend. He didn't like me- he thought I was a tag-along and a kid; Soda always took me with them when they went places if they weren't taking girls, and that bugged Steve. It wasn't my fault; Soda always asked me; I didn't ask him. Soda doesn't think I'm a kid.**

"We're okay now kid, right?" Steve asked and offered his hand for a fist bump to Ponyboy.

"Yeah, we're good." Pony assured him and accepted the fist bump.

 **Two-Bit Mathews**

'Yes! Finally I'm introduced.' I thought. 'He better give me a good first description or I'll skin em'.'

 **was the oldest of the gang and the wisecracker of the bunch. He was about six feet tall, stocky in build, and very proud of his long rusty-colored sideburns. He had gray eyes and a wide grin, and he couldn't stop making funny remarks to save his life. You couldn't shut up that guy; he always had to get his two-bits worth in. Hence his name. Even his teachers forgot his real name was Keith, and we hardly remembered he had one. Life was one big joke to Two-Bit. He was famous for shoplifting and his black-handled switchblade (which he couldn't have acquired without his first talent),**

I just grin.

 **and he was always smarting off to the cops. He really couldn't help it. Everything he said was so irresistibly funny that he just had to let the police in on it to brighten up their dull lives. (That's the way he explained it to me.)**

I was nodding along as I read this part.

 **He liked fights, blondes, and for some unfathomable reason, school. He was still a junior at eighteen and a half and he never learned anything. He just went for kicks. I liked him real well because he kept us laughing at ourselves as well as at other things. He reminded me of Will Rogers- maybe it was the grin.**

I flash Ponyboy said grin, and he can't help but give a small one of his own back.

 **If I had to pick the real character of the gang, it would be Dallas Winston- Dally.**

Every Greaser in the room nodded their head in agreement with slight grins on our faces.

 **I used to like to draw his picture when he was in a dangerous mood, for then I could get his personality down in a few lines. He had an elfish face, with high cheekbones and a pointed chin, small, sharp animal teeth, and ears like a lynx. His hair was almost white it was so blond, and he didn't like haircuts, or hair oil either, so it fell over his forehead in wisps and kicked out in the back in tufts and curled behind his ears and along the nape of his neck. His eyes were blue, blazing ice, cold with a hatred of the whole world. Dally had spent three years on the wild side of New York and had been arrested at the age of ten. He was tougher than the rest of us- tougher, colder, meaner. The shade of difference that separates a greaser from a hood wasn't present in Dally. He was as wild as the boys in the downtown outfits, like Tim Shepard's gang.**

Tim just grinned.

 **In New York, Dally blew off steam in gang fights, but here, organized gangs are rarities- there are just small bunches of friends who stick together, and the warfare is between the social classes. A rumble, when it's called, is usually born of a grudge fight, and the opponents just happen to bring their friends along. Oh, there are a few named gangs around, like the River Kings and the Tiber Street Tigers, but here in the Southwest there's no gang rivalry. So Dally, even though he could get into a good fight sometimes, had no specific thing to hate. No rival gang. Only Socs. And you can't win against them no matter how hard you try, because they've got all the breaks and even whipping them isn't going to change that fact. Maybe that was why Dallas was so bitter.**

 **He had quite a reputation. They have a file on him down at the police station. He had been arrested, he got drunk, he rode in rodeos, lied, cheated, stole, rolled drunks, jumped small kids- he did everything. I didn't like him, but he was smart and you had to respect him.**

The Greasers, and surprisingly the Socs in the room, all nodded their heads in agreement. I stopped reading and allowed a moment of silence. Each of us remembering Dallas Winston in our own ways.

 **Johnny Cade**

I noticed each of the Socs in the room sat up a little straighter in their chairs at the mention of Johnny. It wasn't hard to tell that they were all curious about the boy that each of them had only met briefly.

 **was last and least. If you can picture a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers, you'll have Johnny. He was the youngest, next to me, smaller than the rest, with a slight build. He had big black eyes in a dark tanned face; his hair was jet-black and heavily greased and combed to the side, but it was so long that it fell in shaggy bangs across his forehead. He had a nervous, suspicious look in his eyes, and that beating he got from the Socs didn't help matters.**

I notice Randy shift in his seat and then look down guiltily.

 **He was the gang's pet, everyone's kid brother.**

We all gave each other a little smile at this, each remembering Johnny. I feel a pang in my chest every time I remember Dally or Johnny. I miss them in a way that I never woulda suspected before it all went down. Golly, I'd do anything to see them both again. And I know the same thing goes for the rest of the gang.

 **His father was always beating him up, and his mother ignored him, except when she was hacked off at something, and then you could hear her yelling at him clear down at our house. I think he hated that worse than getting whipped. He would have run away a million times if we hadn't been there. If it hadn't been for the gang, Johnny would never have known what love and affection are.**

"Wait! He got beat up at home? By his own parents?" Randy said looking towards me. I gave a small nod of my head to indicate that he had heard right. He put his head in his hands and started to shake his head back and forth, when he looked back up at me, I was surprised to see tears welling up in his eyes.

"I got a kid killed, who had it rough already. He got beat up at home, by me, and- and we caused him to get killed. Bob and me got him killed! I'm so sorry! I would do anything to go back and change that night. I- I didn't know. I- I didn't know."

"Hey!" I cut him off. "You were drunk. You and Bob both. Now I admit that you two made a whole lot of mistakes when it came to Johnny. But what's done is done. You're cleaning up your act and you're a better person now. So quit your whinin' and let's read the damn essay!" I told him.

I looked around and noticed that everyone else looked a little shocked at my outburst, so I just shrugged my shoulders and said "What? It's true." and then continued reading.

 **I wiped my eyes hurriedly. "Didya catch 'em?"**

 **"Nup. They got away this time, the dirty..." Two-Bit went on cheerfully, calling the Socs every name he could think of or make up.**

 **"The kid's okay?"**

 **"I'm okay." I tried to think of something to say. I'm usually pretty quiet around people, even the gang. I changed the subject. "I didn't know you were out of the cooler yet, Dally."**

 **"Good behavior. Got off early." Dallas lit a cigarette and handed it to Johnny.** "

You know, I've noticed that there were a lot of little signs that showed us how Dally actually cared about Johnny that we just never picked up on." Sodapop said.

"Yeah, even I noticed em' now. Just like him lightin' the kid a cigaratte. He never did stuff like that for me. What about you guys?" Tim said.

There were various negative responses from around the room.

"Let's just keep an eye out for some more of those signs. I wanna figure out how close the two of em' were." Darry said and we all agreed, even the Socs.

 **Everyone sat down to have a smoke and relax. A smoke always lessens the tension. I had quit trembling and my color was back. The cigarette was calming me down. Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow. "Nice-lookin' bruise you got there, kid."**

 **I touched my cheek gingerly. "Really?"**

 **Two-Bit nodded sagely. "Nice cut, too. Makes you look tough."**

 **Tough and tuff are two different words. Tough is the same as rough; tuff means cool, sharp- like a tuff-looking Mustang or a tuff record. In our neighborhood both are compliments.**

 **Steve flicked his ashes at me. "What were you doin', walkin' by your lonesome?"**

 **Leave it to good old Steve to bring up something like that.**

 **"I was comin' home from the movies. I didn't think..."**

 **"You don't ever think," Darry broke in, "not at home or anywhere when it counts. You must think at school, with all those good grades you bring home, and you've always got your nose in a book, but do you ever use your head for common sense? No sirree, bub. And if you did have to go by yourself, you should have carried a blade."**

 **I just stared at the hole in the toe of my tennis shoe. Me and Darry just didn't dig each other. I never could please him. He would have hollered at me for carrying a blade if I had carried one. If I brought home B's, he wanted A's, and if I got A's, he wanted to make sure they stayed A's. If I was playing football, I should be in studying, and if I was reading, I should be out playing football. He never hollered at Sodapop- not even when Soda dropped out of school or got tickets for speeding. He just hollered at me.**

"Sorry Ponyboy." Darry said.

"Darry you need to stop apologizing. I promise it's okay. I've completely forgiven you." he told him honestly.

 **Soda was glaring at him. "Leave my kid brother alone, you hear? It ain't his fault he likes to go to the movies, and it ain't his fault the Socs like to jump us, and if he had been carrying a blade it would have been a good excuse to cut him to ribbons."**

 **Soda always takes up for me.**

 **Darry said impatiently, "When I want my kid brother to tell me what to do with my other kid brother, I'll ask you- kid brother." But he laid off me. He always does when Sodapop tells him to. Most of the time.**

 **"Next time get one of us to go with you, Ponyboy," Two-Bit said. "Any of us will."**

 **"Speakin' of movies"- Dally yawned, flipping away his cigarette butt- "I'm walkin' over to the Nightly Double tomorrow night. Anybody want to come and hunt some action?"**

 **Steve shook his head. "Me and Soda are pickin' up Evie and Sandy for the game."**

 **He didn't need to look at me the way he did right then. I wasn't going to ask if I could come. I'd never tell Soda, because he really likes Steve a lot, but sometimes I can't stand Steve Randle. I mean it. Sometimes I hate him.**

The kid was blushing somethin' fierce when we all looked towards him. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Steve just held up his hand. "It's fine kind, I know. Things have changed since then." he told Ponyboy.

 **Darry sighed, just like I knew he would. Darry never had time to do anything anymore. "I'm working tomorrow night."**

 **Dally looked at the rest of us. "How about y'all? Two-Bit? Johnnycake, you and**

 **Pony wanta come?"**

 **"Me and Johnny'll come," I said. I knew Johnny wouldn't open his mouth unless he was forced to. "Okay, Darry?"**

 **"Yeah, since it ain't a school night." Darry was real good about letting me go places on the weekends. On school nights I could hardly leave the house.**

 **"I was plannin' on getting boozed up tomorrow night," Two-Bit said. "If I don't, I'll walk over and find y'all."**

"Actually, if I remember right, you got boozed up and still came over to find em'. Marcia said, speaking for the first time that night.

I just grinned, shrugged, and went back to reading.

 **Steve was looking at Dally's hand. His ring, which he had rolled a drunk senior to get, was back on his finger. "You break up with Sylvia again?"**

 **"Yeah, and this time it's for good. That little broad was two-timin' me again while I was in jail."**

"She cheated on him while he was in jail?" Cherry asked us in a shocked voice.

"Yeah, she did." Steve said simply.

"With who?" Cherry asked.

It was an innocent enough question, but I could tell Tim was slightly embarrassed when he said "With me."

"Why would you do something like that to your friend? she asked.

"Look, I didn't know they were still together. She told me that she and Dally had broken up for good and she was just lookin' for some fun. If I had known she was lying, I wouldn't have touched her." He explained. (I don't know if he really knew or not but that's how it happened for the sake of this fic).

 **I thought of Sylvia and Evie and Sandy and Two-Bit's many blondes. They were the only kind of girls that would look at us, I thought. Tough, loud girls who wore too much eye makeup and giggled and swore too much. I liked Soda's girl Sandy just fine, though. Her hair was natural blond and her laugh was soft, like her china-blue eyes. She didn't have a real good home or anything and was our kind- greaser- but she was a real nice girl.**

We all pretended not to notice how Sodapop tensed up whenever Sandy was mentioned.

 **Still, lots of times I wondered what other girls were like. The girls who were bright-eyed and had their dresses a decent length and acted as if they'd like to spit on us if given a chance. Some were afraid of us, and remembering Dallas Winston, I didn't blame them. But most looked at us like we were dirt- gave us the same kind of look that the Socs did when they came by in their Mustangs and Corvairs and yelled "Grease!" at us. I wondered about them. The girls, I mean... Did they cry when their boys were arrested, like Evie did when Steve got hauled in, or did they run out on them the way Sylvia did Dallas? But maybe their boys didn't get arrested or beaten up or busted up in rodeos.**

It looked like Cherry was about to say something, but Ponyboy cut her off by saying "I know the answers to that now. You don't need to explain em' to me."

 **I was still thinking about it while I was doing my homework that night. I had to read Great Expectations for English, and that kid Pip, he reminded me of us- the way he felt marked lousy because he wasn't a gentleman or anything, and the way that girl kept looking down on him. That happened to me once. One time in biology I had to dissect a worm, and the razor wouldn't cut, so I used my switchblade. The minute I flicked it out- I forgot what I was doing or I would never have done it- this girl right beside me kind of gasped, and said, "They are right. You are a hood." That didn't make me feel so hot. These were a lot of Socs in that class- I get put into A classes because I'm supposed to be smart- and most of them thought it was pretty funny. I didn't, though. She was a cute girl. She looked real good in yellow.**

We all smiled as Ponyboy blushed.

"Gee you sure blush a lot Ponyboy." Tim said to him.

This, of course, just made him blush even more. "Well you're reading my thoughts to a room full of people, how would you react."

That shut up our laughing real quick.

 **We deserve a lot of our trouble, I thought. Dallas deserves everything he gets, and should get worse, if you want the truth. And Two-Bit- he doesn't really want or need half the things he swipes from stores. He just thinks it's fun to swipe everything that isn't nailed down. I can understand why Sodapop and Steve get into drag races and fights so much, though- both of them have too much energy, too much feeling, with no way to blow it off.**

 **"Rub harder, Soda," I heard Darry mumbling. "You're gonna put me to sleep."**

"Woah! What are you two getting into?" Steve yelled with a laugh.

Soda smacked him upside the head and said "That's disgusting. He's my brother and a dude! I don't swing that way."

He was the one blushing now, though not nearly as heavy as Ponyboy was, and Darry said to me "Two-Bit keep reading before I strangle one of em'."

Although it probably would be funny, I want to hurry up and figure out what happened that week, so I keep reading.

 **I looked through the door. Sodapop was giving Darry a back-rub. Darry is always pulling muscles; he roofs houses and he's always trying to carry two bundles of roofing up the ladder. I knew Soda would put him to sleep, because Soda can put about anyone out when he sets his head to it. He thought Darry worked too hard anyway. I did, too**

 **Darry didn't deserve to work like an old man when he was only twenty. He had been a real popular guy in school; he was captain of the football team and he had been voted Boy of the Year. But we just didn't have the money for him to go to college, even with the athletic scholarship he won. And now he didn't have time between jobs to even think about college. So he never went anywhere and never did anything anymore, except work out at gyms and go skiing with some old friends of his sometimes**

Darry looked down at his shoes with a slight frown on his face.

 **I rubbed my cheek where it had turned purple. I had looked in the mirror, and it did make me look tough. But Darry had made me put a Band-Aid on the cut.**

 **I remembered how awful Johnny had looked when he got beaten up. I had just as much right to use the streets as the Socs did, and Johnny had never hurt them. Why did the Socs hate us so much? We left them alone. I nearly went to sleep over my homework trying to figure it out.**

 **Sodapop, who had jumped into bed by this time, yelled sleepily for me to turn off the light and get to bed. When I finished the chapter I was on, I did.**

 **Lying beside Soda, staring at the wall, I kept remembering the faces of the Socs as they surrounded me, that blue madras shirt the blond was wearing, and I could still hear a thick voice: "Need a haircut, greaser?" I shivered.**

 **"You cold, Ponyboy?"**

 **"A little;" I lied. Soda threw one arm across my neck. He mumbled something drowsily. "Listen, kiddo, when Darry hollers at you... he don't mean nothin'. He's just got more worries than somebody his age ought to. Don't take him serious... you dig, Pony? Don't let him bug you. He's really proud of you 'cause you're so brainy. It's just because you're the baby- I mean, he loves you a lot. Savvy?"**

 **"Sure," I said, trying for Soda's sake to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.**

 **"Soda?"**

 **"Yeah?"**

 **"How come you dropped out?" I never have gotten over that. I could hardly stand it when he left school.**

 **" 'Cause I'm dumb. The only things I was passing anyway were auto mechanics and gym."**

"You're not dumb" The majority of the Greasers told him nearly simultaneously.

 **"You're not dumb."**

 **"Yeah, I am. Shut up and I'll tell you something. Don't tell Darry, though."**

 **"Okay."**

 **"I think I'm gonna marry Sandy. After she gets out of school and I get a better job and everything. I might wait till you get out of school, though. So I can still help Darry with the bills and stuff."**

Sodapop looked down at his shoes, and Darry put his hand on his back. Simply to show Soda that he was there for him.

 **"Tuff enough. Wait till I get out, though, so you can keep Darry off my back."**

 **"Don't be like that, kid. I told you he don't mean half of what he says..."**

 **"You in love with Sandy? What's it like?"**

 **"Hhhmmm." He sighed happily. "It's real nice."**

 **In a moment his breathing was light and regular. I turned my head to look at him and in the moonlight he looked like some Greek god come to earth. I wondered how he could stand being so handsome. Then I sighed. I didn't quite get what he meant about Darry. Darry thought I was just another mouth to feed and somebody to holler at. Darry love me? I thought of those hard, pale eyes. Soda was wrong for once, I thought. Darry doesn't love anyone or anything, except maybe Soda. I didn't hardly think of him as being human. I don't care, I lied to myself, I don't care about him either. Soda's enough, and I'd have him until I got out of school. I don't care about Darry. But I was still lying and I knew it. I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me.**

"That's the end of the Chapter. Who wants to read next?" I ask.

"Would it be okay if I did?" Cherry asked.

I just shrugged and handed her the book.

"Before we get started though, can we just make an agreement not to apologize to each other for every little thing. We all know that things have changed and that we didn't mean half the stuff we said back them. It's just taking a lot a time to apologize over everything." Ponyboy asks.

There are murmurs of agreement from all around the room. Cherry clears her throat and says in a clear voice "Chapter 2".

Author's Note: I know it's a little boring now, but it will get better when we get to a few of the more active chapters. So please, try to bear through this with me, it will pay off in the end.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders or the characters. I'm not making any profit with this, everything belongs to S.E Hinton. If you recognize something, it probably isn't mine. The text in bold comes directly from the book and is in no way mine.**

 **Thanks for all of the amazing support I've been getting in terms of this fic. Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, followed, etc. as it really means a lot. Thanks again!**

 **(Cherry POV)**

 **Dally was waiting for Johnny and me under the street light at the corner of Pickett and Sutton, and since we got there early, we had time to go over the drugstore in the shopping center and goof around. We bought Cokes and blew the straws at the waitress, and walked around eyeing things that were lying out in the open until the manager got wise to us and suggested we leave. He was too late, though; Dally walked out with two packages of Kools under his jacket.**

"How can you just steal something and be so casual about it, like it's nothing?" I couldn't help asking.

Tim shrugged and answered simply "It's just easy by now."

My confusion must have shown on my face because Two-Bit cleared things up when he said "Sometimes, you just have to do what you have to. That might be stealing or starting fights, but after a while, it kinda' is just a force of habit."

I decided to not question their logic anymore and went on with the story.

 **Then we went across the street and down Sutton a little way to The Dingo. There are lots of drive-ins in town- the Socs go to The Way Out and to Rusty's, and the greasers go to The Dingo and to Jay's. The Dingo is a pretty rough hangout; there's always a fight going on there and once a girl got shot. We walked around talking to all the greasers and hoods we knew, leaning in car windows or hopping into the back seats, and getting in on who was running away, and who was in jail, and who was going with who, and who could whip who, and who stole what and when and why. We knew about everybody there.**

"That's completely different from how we act. We usually stick with our own little groups and don't talk to other groups unless it's for a party, prank, or fight. Do you just talk to every Greaser you see?" Randy questioned the group of Greasers.

"Yeah pretty much. I mean don't get me wrong, we ain't besties or nothin', but we all kinda stick together." Darry answered him.

"Man, I wish it were like that with all Socs." Marcia said "I just can't stand how we only talk to each other if we're planning something."

I nod my agreement along with Randy, then I continue reading.

 **There was a pretty good fight while we were there between a big twenty-three-year-old greaser and a Mexican hitchhiker. We left when the switchblades came out, because the cops would be coming soon and nobody in his right mind wants to be around when the fuzz show.**

"Is that like an everyday thing at The Dingo?" I'm interrupted once again by Randy.

The Greasers just nod and I take that as my cue to continue reading.

 **We crossed Sutton and cut around behind Spencer's Special, the discount house, and chased two junior-high kids across a field for a few minutes; By then it was dark enough to sneak in over the back fence of the Nightly Double drive-in movie. It was the biggest in town, and showed two movies every night, and on weekends four- you could say you were going to the Nightly Double and have time to go all over town.**

"And how would you know that?" Darry asked in a slightly playfully, slightly threateningly voice.

"Uh- I- well you see- um-" Ponyboy stutters his explanation.

Darry just laughs and pretty soon the rest of us are joining in. I see a blush creeping up Ponyboy's neck and decide to save him from his embarrassment.

 **We all had the money to get in- it only costs a quarter if you're not in a car- but Dally hated to do things the legal way. He liked to show that he didn't care whether there was a law or not. He went around trying to break laws.**

I didn't even say anything, I just shook my head disapprovingly.

 **We went to the rows of seats in front of the concession stand to sit down. Nobody else was there except two girls who were sitting down front.**

"Oh! This is where we come in Cherry!" Marcia said in a very excited voice.

I'm about to reply when I notice Two-Bit looking at Marcia with a slight smile on his face, most likely amused by her child-like excitement.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who notices his smile because Marcia ducks her head and when she raises it again it's with a blush on her cheeks and a shy smile on her face. Interesting, very interesting. I'm happy that Marcia is at least thinking about moving on from Randy.

Their breakup was mutual and they ended on good terms so they are still very good friends, but she has been reluctant to move on. I can't just let my best friend go out with anyone, though, so I'll have to casually interrogate him, but I get the feeling that if he passes the test they will make a great couple. All they need is a little push, and well, they don't call me Cherry the Matchmaker Extraordinaire for nothing. Ok, no one really calls me that except for me, but I will get them together if he passes my tests! After all, what are best friends for?

 **Dally eyed them coolly, then walked down the aisle and sat right behind them. I had a sick feeling that Dally was up to his usual tricks, and I was right. He started talking, loud enough for the two girls to hear. He started out bad and got worse. Dallas could talk awful dirty if he wanted to and I guess he wanted to then. I felt my ears get hot. Two-Bit or Steve or even Soda would have gone right along with him, just to see if they could embarrass the girls,**

I look at said boys with a questioning look on my face, and almost simultaneously they just shrug sheepishly with innocent little grins on their faces.

 **but that kind of kicks just doesn't appeal to me. I sat there, struck dumb, and Johnny left hastily to get a Coke.**

 **I wouldn't have felt so embarrassed if they had been greasy girls- I might even have helped old Dallas. But those two girls weren't our kind. They were tuff-looking girls- dressed sharp and really good-looking.**

Marica and I look at Ponyboy with slight grins on our faces, and I nearly bust out laughing when Pony blushes so hard that his face nearly matches my hair.

 **They looked about sixteen or seventeen. One had short dark hair, and the other had long red hair. The redhead was getting mad, or scared. She sat up straight and she was chewing hard on her gum. The other one pretended not to hear Dally. Dally was getting impatient. He put his feet up on the back of the redhead's chair, winked at me, and beat his own record for saying something dirty. She turned around and gave him a cool stare**

 **"Take your feet off my chair and shut your trap."**

I pretend not to notice the varying degrees of surprise that flash across the Greasers faces at the fact that I talked back to Dally.

 **Boy, she was good-looking.**

"Man, she just talked back to Dally and all you can think of is how good looking she is." Steve says through his chuckles.

I guess Ponyboy had had enough because he said in a fairly frustrated voice "Ok I get it. But, I was a fourteen-year-old Greaser, how could I not think about the fact that I was sitting behind a pretty Soc girl? I don't like her like that! No offense, Cherry."

"None taken, Ponyboy." I assure him.

 **I'd seen her before; she was a cheerleader at our school. I'd always thought she was stuck-up.**

I don't even pause to let Pony stammer out his apology.

 **Dally merely looked at her and kept his feet where they were. "Who's gonna make me?"**

 **The other one turned around and watched us. "That's the greaser that jockeys for the Slash J sometime," she said, as if we couldn't hear her.**

 **I had heard the same tone a million times: "Greaser... greaser... greaser." Oh yeah, I had heard that tone before too many times. What are they doing at a drive-in without a car? I thought, and Dallas said, "I know you two. I've seen you around rodeos."**

 **"It's a shame you can't ride bull half as good as you can talk it," the redhead said coolly and turned back around.**

"Dang girl!" Tim said with a grin.

I used the paper to hide my blush from the others in the room.

 **That didn't bother Dally in the least. "You two barrel race, huh?"**

 **"You'd better leave us alone," the redhead said in a biting voice, "or I'll call the cops."**

 **"Oh, my, my"- Dally looked bored- "you've got me scared to death. You ought to see my record sometime, baby." He grinned slyly. "Guess what I've been in for?"**

 **"Please leave us alone," she said. "Why don't you be nice and leave us alone?"**

 **Dally grinned roguishly. "I'm never nice. Want a Coke?"**

 **She was mad by then. "I wouldn't drink it if I was starving in the desert. Get lost, hood!"**

 **Dally merely shrugged and strolled off.**

 **The girl looked at me. I was half-scared of her. I'm half-scared of all nice girls, especially Socs. "Are you going to start in on us?"**

 **I shook my head, wide-eyed. "No."**

 **Suddenly she smiled. Gosh, she was pretty. "You don't look the type. What's your name?"**

 **I wished she hadn't asked me that. I hate to tell people my name for the first time. "Ponyboy Curtis."**

"Don't be ashamed of your name Ponyboy. Besides, I thought you liked your name?" Sodapop asked.

"I do, just wait and the essay will explain it." was the only reply he got.

 **Then I waited for the "You're kidding!" or "That's your real name?" or one of the other remarks I usually get. Ponyboy's my real name and personally I like it.**

 **The redhead just smiled. "That's an original and lovely name."**

 **"My dad was an original person," I said.**

'He must've been' I thought as I watched every single Greaser in the room nod their heads in agreement with reminiscent smiles on their faces.

 **"I've got a brother named Sodapop, and it says so on his birth certificate."**

 **"My name's Sherri, but I'm called Cherry because of my hair. Cherry Valance."**

 **"I know," I said. "You're a cheerleader. We go to the same school."**

 **"You don't look old enough to be going to high school," the dark-haired girl said.**

 **"I'm not. I got put up a year in grade school."**

 **Cherry was looking at me. "What's a nice, smart kid like you running around with trash like that for?"**

 **I felt myself stiffen. "I'm a grease, same as Dally. He's my buddy."**

 **"I'm sorry, Ponyboy," she said softly. Then she said briskly, "Your brother Sodapop, does he work at a gasoline station? A DX, I think?"**

"Keepin' tabs on me, Darlin?" Soda says teasingly.

"Oh hush, Sodapop!" I tell him, matching his teasing tone.

He just grins and I continue reading.

 **"Yeah."**

 **"Man, your brother is one doll.**

I again have to use the paper to hide my blush as Sodapop throws a grin towards me.

 **I might have guessed you were brothers- you look alike."**

 **I grinned with pride- I don't think I look one bit like Soda, but it's not every day I hear Socs telling me they think my brother is a doll.**

 **"Didn't he used to ride in rodeos? Saddle bronc?"**

"I was just jokin before, but you really do seem to know an awful lot about me. Anything you'd like to tell me?" Soda pop teases us again.

I don't even pause reading.

 **"Yeah. Dad made him quit after he tore a ligament, though. We still hang around rodeos a lot. I've seen you two barrel race. You're good."**

 **"Thanks," Cherry said, and the other girl, who was named Marcia, said, "How come we don't see your brother at school? He's not any older than sixteen or seventeen, is he?"**

 **I winced inside. I've told you I can't stand it that Soda dropped out. "He's a dropout," I said roughly. "Dropout" made me think of some poor dumb-looking hoodlum wandering the streets breaking out street lights-**

"Ouch, Ponyboy!" Sodapop said, clutching his chest for emphasis.

"Just let her finish readin', you know I didn't mean it like that!" Ponyboy exclaimed.

 **it didn't fit my happy-go-lucky brother at all. It fitted Dally perfectly, but you could hardly say it about Soda.**

"I never knew my dropping out bothered you so much Pony."

"It doesn't really anymore. I just don't like when people think bad of ya just because you dropped out." Ponyboy told him.

Sodapop nodded and whether that was Curtis talk for it's alright or thanks or love you or whatever, I don't know.

 **Johnny came back then and sat down beside me. He looked around for Dally, then managed a shy "Hi" to the girls and tried to watch the movie. He was nervous, though. Johnny was always nervous around strangers. Cherry looked at him, sizing him up as she had me. Then she smiled softly, and I knew she had him sized up right.**

 **Dally came striding back with an armful of Cokes. He handed one to each of the girls and sat down beside Cherry. "This might cool you off."**

 **She gave him an incredulous look; and then she threw her Coke in his face.**

 **"That might cool you off, greaser. After you wash your mouth and learn to talk and act decent, I might cool off, too."**

"Woah wait! You threw a coke in Dally's face? And you're still alive? Dang, Dally must have really liked you or somethin'."

Steve said.

That caused me to stop "What do you mean he must have really liked me?"

No one looked like they wanted to answer, but it was Darry who finally answered me. "Well you see, we all kind of think that Dallas sorta liked you. Like as in he kinda had a crush on ya." Darry said.

At my incredulous look, Sodapop continued where his older brother left off.

"Ok, so you know how you rejected him and he left?" I nod.

"Well, usually he would just forget you and go find someone else to bother, but he came back to you guys and bought you Cokes. It seems to me that Dally was flirting with you. And not only that, but Ponyboy has told me some of the stuff he did later on that kind of pointed towards the crush idea too. Just keep reading, you'll see."

I can't quite wipe the incredulous look off of my face, but I still keep reading.

 **Dally wiped the Coke off his face with his sleeve and smiled dangerously. If I had been Cherry I would have beat it out of there. I knew that smile.**

 **"Fiery, huh? Well, that's the way I like 'em." He started to put his arm around her, but Johnny reached over and stopped him.**

 **"Leave her alone, Dally."**

"Huh?" comes from all around the room.

"Did Johnny just-" Two-Bit stops.

"Talk back to Dally?" It's Tim that finishes for him.

No one seems to know what to say so I just keep on reading.

 **"Huh?" Dally was taken off guard. He stared at Johnny in disbelief. Johnny couldn't say "Boo" to a goose. Johnny gulped and got a little pale, but he said,**

 **"You heard me. Leave her alone."**

 **Dallas scowled for a second. If it had been me, or Two-Bit, or Soda or Steve, or anyone but Johnny, Dally would have flattened him without a moment's hesitation.**

Every Greaser nods.

 **You just didn't tell Dally Winston what to do. One time, in a dime store, a guy told him to move over at the candy counter. Dally had turned around and belted him so hard it knocked a tooth loose. A complete stranger, too.**

"Oh my gosh." I said. "Why would he do that?" I asked.

"Dally just don't like being told what to do.

 **But Johnny was the gang's pet, and Dally just couldn't hit him. He was Dally's pet, too.**

"I knew that he was Dallas' pet just like he was the rest of the gang's, but I think it actually was more than that. I'm starting to think that Dallas saw Johnny as a little brother." Darry said with a curious expression.

"Yeah, I see what you mean." Sodapop agreed.

The rest of the Greasers just mumble their agreement with strange looks on their faces.

 **Dally got up and stalked off, his fists jammed in his pockets and a frown on his face. He didn't come back.**

 **Cherry sighed in relief. "Thanks. He had me scared to death."**

 **Johnny managed an admiring grin. "You sure didn't show it. Nobody talks to Dally like that."**

 **She smiled, "From what I saw, you do."**

 **Johnny's ears got red. I was still staring at him. It had taken more than nerve for him to say what he'd said to Dally- Johnny worshiped the ground Dallas walked on, and I had never heard Johnny talk back to anyone, much less his hero.**

"Man, he sure stuck his neck out for us didn't he?" Marcia asked.

The Greasers nodded, and I had to try my best to ignore Randy's increasingly guilty expression.

 **Marcia grinned at us. She was a little smaller than Cherry. She was cute, but that Cherry Valance was a real looker.**

"Just can't stop thinkin' of her can you kid?" Sodapop teased and Ponyboy turned and punched him in the shoulder. And of course, Sodapop played it up, falling out of his seat and onto the floor, clutching his shoulder. Used to the boys by now, I just go back to reading.

 **"Y'all sit up here with us. You can protect us."**

 **Johnny and I looked at each other. He grinned suddenly, raising his eyebrows so that they disappeared under his bangs. Would we ever have something to tell the boys! his eyes said plainly.**

There was a quiet chuckling that rang out from all of the Greasers. Two-Bit, still chuckling, mumbled, "Oh, Johnny."

For some reason, this made my breath catch in my throat, and I had to take a few deep breaths before I could continue reading. They just cared for each other and knew each other so well, it kind of made you jealous. I can only imagine how they felt when Johnny and Dallas died.

 **We had picked up two girls, and classy ones at that. Not any greasy broads for us, but real Socs. Soda would flip when I told him.**

 **"Okay," I said nonchalantly, "might as well."**

 **I sat between them, and Johnny sat next to Cherry.**

 **"How old are y'all?" Marcia asked.**

 **"Fourteen," I said. "Sixteen," said Johnny. 'That's funny," Marcia said, "I thought you were both..."**

 **"Sixteen," Cherry finished for her. I was grateful. Johnny looked fourteen and he knew it and it bugged him something awful.**

 **Johnny grinned. "How come y'all ain't scared of us like you were Dally?"**

 **Cherry sighed. "You two are too sweet to scare anyone. First of all, you didn't join in Dallas's dirty talk, and you made him leave us alone. And when we asked you to sit up here with us, you didn't act like it was an invitation to make out for the night. Besides that, I've heard about Dallas Winston, and he looked as hard as nails and twice as tough. And you two don't look mean."**

 **"Sure," I said tiredly, "we're young and innocent"**

 **"No," Cherry said slowly, looking at me carefully, "not innocent. You've seen too much to be innocent. Just not... dirty."**

 **"Dally's okay," Johnny said defensively, and I nodded. You take up for your buddies, no matter what they do. When you're a gang, you stick up for the members. If you don't stick up for them, stick together, make like brothers, it isn't a gang any more. It's a pack. A snarling, distrustful, bickering pack like the Socs in their social clubs or the street gangs in New York or the wolves in the timber.**

Every single Greaser and, surprisingly, Soc in the room nodded along with this as I read this.

 **"He's tough, but he's a cool old guy."**

 **"He'd leave you alone if he knew you," I said, and that was true. When Steve's cousin from Kansas came down, Dally was decent to her and watched his swearing.**

"Really?" I asked and then I realize how bad that probably sounded, so I hurried to continue and said "It's just, he doesn't seem the type to do that sort of thing."

"It's okay, at first glance it may not seem like it, but Dally is nice when he wants to be." Sodapop assured me.

I'm starting to think that Dally might not have been as bad of a guy as I had thought. I mean, not even Bob tried to watch his language around Marcia and me, and he was my boyfriend!

 **We all did around nice girls who were the cousinly type. I don't know how to explain it- we try to be nice to the girls we see once in awhile, like cousins or the girls in class; but we still watch a nice girl go by on a street corner and say all kinds of lousy stuff about her. Don't ask me why. I don't know why.**

 **"Well," Marcia said with finality, "I'm glad he doesn't know us."**

 **"I kind of admire him," Cherry said softly, so only I heard, and then we settled down to watch the movie.**

I'm about to continue when I notice everyone looking at me with their mouths open from shock.

"What?" I ask defensively.

Everyone just kind of shrugs with these weird little grins on their faces, which just confuses the heck out of me.

 **Oh, yeah, we found out why they were without a car. They'd come with their boyfriends, but walked out on them when they found out the boys had brought some booze along. The boys had gotten angry and left.**

 **"I don't care if they did." Cherry sounded annoyed. "It's not my idea of a good time to sit in a drive-in and watch people get drunk."**

 **You could tell by the way she said it that her idea of a good time was probably, high-class, and probably expensive. They'd decided to stay and see the movie anyway. It was one of those beach-party movies with no plot and no acting but a lot of girls in bikinis and some swinging songs, so it was all right. We were all four sitting there in silence when suddenly a strong hand came down on Johnny's shoulder and another on mine and a deep voice said, "Okay, greasers, you've had it"**

"Who was it? Was it a Soc? I'll kill em'." Darry said in an angry voice.

I noticed Two-Bit not so discreetly scoot behind Ponyboy to use him as a human shield if need be.

 **I almost jumped out of my skin. It was like having someone leap out from behind a door and yell "Boo!" at you.**

 **I looked fearfully over my shoulder and there was Two-Bit, grinning like a Chessy cat. "Glory, Two-Bit, scare us to death!" He was good at voice imitations and had sounded for all the world like a snarling Soc. Then I looked at Johnny. His eyes were shut and he was as white as a ghost. His breath was coming in smothered gasps.**

"Two-Bit, you know better than to scare Johnny like that." Sodapop said at the exact same time as I read the next sentence of the essay.

 **Two-Bit knew better than to scare Johnny like that.**

Sodapop just frowned and mumbled "Weird."

"I know, I just kind of forgot." Two-Bit explained.

 **I guess he'd forgotten. He's kind of scatterbrained. Johnny opened his eyes and said weakly, "Hey, Two-Bit."**

 **Two-Bit messed up his hair, "Sorry, kid," he said, "I forgot."**

 **He climbed over the chair and plopped down beside Marcia. "Who's this, your great-aunts?"**

 **"Great-grandmothers, twice removed," Cherry said smoothly.**

 **I couldn't tell if Two-Bit was drunk or not. It's kind of hard to tell with him- he acts boozed up sometimes even when he's sober.**

Two-Bit just grinned innocently.

 **He cocked one eyebrow up and the other down, which he always does when something puzzles him, or bothers him, or when he feels like saying something smart. "Shoot, you're ninety-six if you're a day."**

 **"I'm a night," Marcia said brightly.**

 **Two-Bit stared at her admiringly.**

"Admiringly? Is there something you wanna tell us Two-Bit?" Steve asks him.

Two-Bit just smiles shamelessly and acts like he didn't have a care in the world.

 **"Brother, you're a sharp one. Where'd you two ever get to be picked up by a couple of greasy hoods like Pony and Johnny?"**

 **"We really picked them up," Marcia said. "We're really Arabian slave traders and we're thinking about shanghaiing them. They're worth ten camels apiece at least."**

 **"Five," Two-Bit disagreed. "They don't talk Arabian, I don't think. Say somethin' in Arabian, Johnnycake."**

Everyone in the room grinned at the childlike behavior of Marcia and Two-Bit.

 **"Aw, cut it out!" Johnny broke in.**

 **"Dally was bothering them and when he left they wanted us to sit with them to protect them. Against wisecracking greasers like you, probably."**

"Dang, it ain't like Johnny to get sassy like that." Darry said with a smile.

 **Two-Bit grinned, because Johnny didn't usually get sassy like that.**

"How do you guys keep doing that? It's like you know what Ponyboy's thinking." Two-Bit asks Sodapop and Darry.

"Oh! You do, don't you. Go ahead, tell me what he's thinking right now." Two-Bit is nearly bouncing where he sits in excitement. Darry just gives him a light smack on the back of the head, and just like that, Two-Bit is sitting quietly on the floor again.

I notice that Marcia is looking at him with a joyful smile on her face. He notices and grins back at her, then I hear a throat clear and I realize that I'm supposed to be reading, so I quickly continue.

 **We thought we were doing good if we could get him to talk at all. Incidentally, we don't mind being called greaser by another greaser. It's kind of playful then.**

 **"Hey, where is ol Dally, anyways?"**

 **"He went hunting some action- booze or dames or a fight. I hope he don't get jailed again. He just got out"**

 **"He'll probably find the fight," Two-Bit stated cheerfully. "That's why I came over. Mr. Timothy Shepard and Co. are looking for whoever so kindly slashed their car's tires, and since Mr. Curly Shepard spotted Dallas doing it... well... Does Dally have a blade?"**

 **"Not that I know of," I said. "I think he's got a piece of pipe, but he busted his blade this morning."**

 **"Good. Tim'll fight fair if Dally don't pull a blade on him. Dally shouldn't have any trouble."**

"That's really all it takes for a fight to be fair with you guys?" Randy asked disbelievingly.

"Yep, and once they get what's comin' to em', that's that. We don't hold grudges." Tim said to him.

"That's the opposite when it comes to Socs. If you do something to another Soc, they hold the grudge forever." Randy explained.

 **Cherry and Marcia were staring at us.**

 **"You don't believe in playing rough or anything, do you?"**

 **"A fair fight isn't rough;' Two-Bit said.**

 **"Blades are rough. So are chains and heaters and pool sticks and rumbles. Skin fighting isn't rough. It blows off steam better than anything. There's nothing wrong with throwing a few punches. Socs are rough. They gang up on one or two, or they rumble each other with their social clubs. Us greasers usually stick together, but when we do fight among ourselves, it's a fair fight between two. And Dally deserves whatever he gets, 'cause slashed tires ain't no joke when you've got to work to pay for them. He got spotted, too, and that was his fault. Our one rule, besides stick together, is don't get caught. He might get beat up, he might not. Either way there's not going to be any blood feud between our outfit and Shepard's. If we needed them tomorrow they'd show. If Tim beats Dally's head in, and then tomorrow asks us for help in a rumble, we'll show. Dally was getting kicks. He got caught. He pays up. No sweat."**

"Well put, Two-Bit." Tim said.

"Yeah, you sure you wasn't sick that night?" Sodapop said with a chuckle.

Two-Bit quickly jumps up and tackles Sodapop off of the couch, and then there wrestling around on the floor. Their both chuckling, so I know they're playing. I can't help but smile when I hear their playful threats thrown back and forth. I notice that Marcia and Randy are smiling at them too. After Darry finally breaks them up, I get back to reading, but the smile is still present on my face.

 **"Yeah, boy," Cherry said sarcastically, "real simple."**

 **"Sure," Marcia said, unconcerned. "If he gets killed or something, you just bury him. No sweat"**

"Nah, I wouldn't have killed him." Tim said with a smile.

 **"You dig okay, baby." Two-Bit grinned and lit a cigarette. "Anyone want a weed?"**

"There's our Two-Bit charm that we're so used to." Sodapop said with a grin.

Two-Bit doesn't even bother responding this time.

 **I looked at Two-Bit admiringly. He sure put things into words good. Maybe he was still a junior at eighteen and a half, and maybe his sideburns were too long, and maybe he did get boozed up too much, but he sure understood things.**

Two-Bit put his hands on his sideburns and yells at Ponyboy indignantly "They're not too long."

I find it a little bit funny that this is the remark he chooses to be upset about.

 **Cherry and Marcia shook their heads at his offering of cigarettes, but Johnny and I reached for one. Johnny's color was back and his breathing was regular, but his hand was shaking ever so slightly. A cigarette would steady it.**

 **"Ponyboy, will you come with me to get some popcorn?" Cherry asked.**

 **I jumped up. "Sure. Y'all want some?"**

 **"I do," said Marcia. She was finishing the Coke Dally had given her. I realized then that Marcia and Cherry weren't alike. Cherry had said she wouldn't drink Dally's Coke if she was starving, and she meant it. It was the principle of the thing. But Marcia saw no reason to throw away a perfectly good, free Coke.**

 **"Me too," said Two-Bit. He flipped me a fifty cent piece. "Get Johnny some, too. I'm buyin'," he added as Johnny started to reach into his jeans pocket.**

 **We went to the concession stand and, as usual, there was a line a mile long, so we had to wait. Quite a few kids turned to look at us- you didn't see a kid grease and a Socy cheerleader together often. Cherry didn't seem to notice.**

 **"Your friend- the one with the sideburns- he's okay?"**

 **"He ain't dangerous like Dallas if that's what you mean. He's okay."**

 **She smiled and her eyes showed that her mind was on something else. "Johnny... he's been hurt bad sometime, hasn't he?" It was more of a statement than a question. "Hurt and scared."**

 **"It was the Socs," I said nervously, because there were plenty of Socs milling around and some of them were giving me funny looks, as if I shouldn't be with Cherry or something. And I don't like to talk about it either- Johnny getting beat up, I mean. But I started in, talking a little faster than I usually do because I don't like to think about it either.**

 **It was almost four months ago. I had walked down to the DX station to get a bottle of pop and to see Steve and Soda, because they'll always buy me a couple of bottles and let me help work on the cars. I don't like to go on weekends because then there is usually a bunch of girls down there flirting with Soda- all kinds of girls, Socs too. I don't care too much for girls yet. Soda says I'll grow out of it. He did.**

 **It was a warmish spring day with the sun shining bright, but it was getting chilly and dark by the time we started for home. We were walking because we had left Steve's car at the station. At the corner of our block there's a wide, open field where we play football and hang out, and it's often a site for rumbles and fist fights. We were passing it, kicking rocks down the street and finishing our last bottle of Pepsi, when Steve noticed something lying on the ground. He picked it up. It was Johnny's blue-jeans jacket- the only jacket he had.**

"He only had one jacket?" Randy asked the Greasers.

"Yeah, his parents wouldn't get him one so it's an old one of ours."

Darry said in the same angry voice that he always seems to use when talking about Johnny's parents.

I see Randy put his head in his hands. I think it's really bothering him that he had inevitably played a part in this young boy's death. Now, finding out that the boy also had a terrible home life, that's got to make him feel guilty.

 **"Looks like Johnny forgot his jacket," Steve said, slinging it over his shoulder to take it by Johnny's house. Suddenly he stopped and examined it more carefully. There was a stain the color of rust across the collar. He looked at the ground. There were some more stains on the grass. He looked up and across the field with a stricken expression on his face. I think we all heard the low moan and saw the dark motionless hump on the other side of the lot at the same time.**

 **Soda reached him first. Johnny was lying face down on the ground. Soda turned him over gently, and I nearly got sick. Someone had beaten him badly.**

 **We were used to seeing Johnny banged up- his father clobbered him around a lot, and although it made us madder than heck, we couldn't do anything about it. But those beatings had been nothing like this. Johnny's face was cut up and bruised and swollen, and there was a wide gash from his temple to his cheekbone. He would carry that scar all his life. His white T-shirt was splattered with blood. I just stood there, trembling with sudden cold. I thought he might be dead; surely nobody could be beaten like that and live. Steve closed his eyes for a second and muffled a groan as he dropped on his knees beside Soda.**

Randy was turning an interesting shade of green, and Two-Bit must've noticed it too because he set a bucket in front of Randy and said "If you're gonna sick up, do it in that."

Randy took a deep breath and seemed to collect himself.

 **Somehow the gang sensed what had happened. Two-Bit was suddenly there beside me, and for once his comical grin was gone and his dancing gray eyes were stormy. Darry had seen us from our porch and ran toward us, suddenly skidding to a halt. Dally was there, too, swearing under his breath, and turning away with a sick expression on his face. I wondered about it vaguely. Dally had seen people killed on the streets of New York's West Side. Why did he look sick now?**

"Because he cared." Darry said quietly and the rest of the Greasers nodded.

 **"Johnny?" Soda lifted him up and held him against his shoulder. He gave the limp body a slight shake. "Hey, Johnnycake."**

 **Johnny didn't open his eyes, but there came a soft question. "Soda?"**

 **"Yeah, it's me," Sodapop said. "Don't talk. You're gonna be okay."**

 **"There was a whole bunch of them," Johnny went on, swallowing, ignoring Soda's command. "A blue Mustang full... I got so scared..."He tried to swear, but suddenly started crying, fighting to control himself, then sobbing all the more because he couldn't. I had seen Johnny take a whipping with a two-by-four from his old man**

"What?!" All of the Socs yell.

"That's the kind of guy his father is." Darry said simply.

 **and never let out a whimper. That made it worse to see him break now. Soda just held him and pushed Johnny's hair back out of his eyes. "It's okay, Johnnycake, they're gone now. It's okay."**

 **Finally, between sobs, Johnny managed to gasp out his story. He had been hunting our football to practice a few kicks when a blue Mustang had pulled up beside the lot. There were four Socs in it. They had caught him and one of them had a lot of rings on his hand- that's what had cut Johnny up so badly. It wasn't just that they had beaten him half to death- he could take that. They had scared him. They had threatened him with everything under the sun. Johnny was high-strung anyway, a nervous wreck from getting belted every time he turned around and from hearing his parents fight all the time.**

I guess this was just too much for Randy, because he finally gave in to his rolling stomach. The sounds of retching filled the silence of the room, and I couldn't help but wince. By the time he was done retching, another sound had filled the air: crying. Someone handed him a napkin and he wiped his mouth, and then he just put his head in his hands and cried.

"I didn't mean too, I was drunk. I just- just had too much to drink. How- how can you guys even stand to be around me? How- are you not mad at me?"

"Honestly, at first, we wanted to kill you. But, after the trial, we all realized that you were just drunk, and made a mistake. And, we all know that the majority of this gang has gotten drunk and made mistakes, just none quite as big as yours." Sodapop answered.

"Yeah, I mean there are still times that we can't help but think that if it weren't for what you and your friends did that night, Johnny and Dally would still be here. But, then we just have to remember what you're doing now, how you're trying to change." Darry told him.

Randy seemed to be calming down quite a bit at the assurances given by the two oldest Curtis brothers. So, I decided to hurry up and get this chapter over with. Everyone could use a little break and it's almost time for dinner **.**

 **Living in those conditions might have turned someone else rebellious and bitter; it was killing Johnny. He had never been a coward. He was a good man in a rumble. He stuck up for the gang and kept his mouth shut good around cops. But after the night of the beating, Johnny was jumpier than ever. I didn't think he'd ever get over it. Johnny never walked by himself after that. And Johnny, who was the most law-abiding of us, now carried in his back pocket a six-inch switchblade. He'd use it, too, if he ever got jumped again. They had scared him that much. He would kill the next person who jumped him. Nobody was ever going to beat him like that again. Not over his dead body…**

"If only Bob and I had known that." Randy mumbled.

 **I had nearly forgotten that Cherry was listening to me. But when I came back to reality and looked at her, I was startled to find her as white as a sheet.**

 **"All Socs aren't like that," she said.**

 **"You have to believe me, Ponyboy. Not all of us are like that."**

 **"Sure," I said.**

 **"That's like saying all you greasers are like Dallas Winston. I'll bet he's jumped a few people."**

 **I digested that. It was true. Dally had jumped people. He had told us stories about muggings in New York that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. But not all of us were that bad.**

 **Cherry no longer looked sick, only sad.**

 **"I'll bet you think the Socs have it made. The rich kids, the West-side Socs. I'll tell you something, Ponyboy, and it may come as a surprise. We have troubles you've never even heard of. You want to know something?" She looked me straight in the eye. "Things are rough all over."**

 **"I believe you," I said. "We'd better get back out there with the popcorn or TwoBit'll think I ran off with his money."**

 **We went back and watched the movie through again. Marcia and Two-Bit were hitting it off fine. Both had the same scatterbrained sense of humor.**

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" They both asked at the same time. Then, forgetting their annoyance at Ponyboy, they grinned at each other.

 **But Cherry and Johnny and I just sat there, looking at the movie and not talking. I quit worrying about everything and thought about how nice it was to sit with a girl without having to listen to her swear or to beat her off with a club. I knew Johnny liked it, too. He didn't talk to girls much. Once, while Dallas was in reform school, Sylvia had started hanging on to Johnny and sweet talking him and Steve got hold of her and told her if she tried any of her tricks with Johnny he'd personally beat the tar out of her. Then he gave Johnny a lecture on girls and how a sneaking little broad like Sylvia would get him into a lot of trouble. As a result, Johnny never spoke to girls much, but whether that was because he was scared of Steve or because he was shy, I couldn't tell.**

"It was because he was shy. I remember talking to him about it when I noticed that after that lecture, he never seemed to talk to girls. He told me he just usually didn't know what to say to them." Steve told Ponyboy with a slight smile on his face, probably remembering what his response was to finding out Johnny didn't know what to say to girls.

 **I got the same lecture from Two-Bit after we'd picked up a couple of girls downtown one day. I thought it was funny, because girls are one subject even Darry thinks I use my head about. And it really had been funny, because Two-Bit was half crocked when he gave me the lecture, and he told me some stories that about made me want to crawl under the floor or something. But he had been talking about girls like Sylvia and the girls he and Dally and the rest picked up at drive-ins and downtown; he never said anything about Socy girls. So I figured it was all right to be sitting there with them. Even if they did have their own troubles. I really couldn't see what Socs would have to sweat about- good grades, good cars, good girls, madras and Mustangs and Corvairs- Man, I thought, if I had worries like that I'd consider myself lucky.**

 **I know better now.**

"That's the end of the chapter. Wanna take a break and get some dinner?" I ask.

"Yeah that's fine, but I want to read next." Sodapop said.


	4. Author's Note

**Author's Note: Sorry guys but I'm no longer going to be writing fanfiction. It doesn't really appeal to me anymore. It feels more like a chore than a hobby. If anyone would like to take over this fic, PM me and I will gladly let you. Thanks and sorry again.**


	5. New Author

Hey guys, so another author has decided to take over this story, so make sure you keep an eye on Angela Lynn Woodward for updates on this story. Thanks and good luck Angela!


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